And it came to pass, that, as the people pressed upon him to hear the word of God, he stood by the lake of Gennesaret,

And saw two ships standing by the lake: but the fishermen were gone out of them, and were washing their nets.

And he entered into one of the ships, which was Simon's, and prayed him that he would thrust out a little from the land. And he sat down, and taught the people out of the ship.

Now when he had left speaking, he said unto Simon, Launch out into the deep, and let down your nets for a draught.

And Simon answering said unto him, Master, we have toiled all the night, and have taken nothing: nevertheless at thy word I will let down the net.

And when they had this done, they inclosed a great multitude of fishes: and their net brake.

And they beckoned unto their partners, which were in the other ship, that they should come and help them. And they came, and filled both the ships, so that they began to sink.

When Simon Peter saw it, he fell down at Jesus' knees, saying, Depart from me; for I am a sinful man, O Lord.

For he was astonished, and all that were with him, at the draught of the fishes which they had taken:

10 And so was also James, and John, the sons of Zebedee, which were partners with Simon. And Jesus said unto Simon, Fear not; from henceforth thou shalt catch men.

11 And when they had brought their ships to land, they forsook all, and followed him.

12 And it came to pass, when he was in a certain city, behold a man full of leprosy: who seeing Jesus fell on his face, and besought him, saying, Lord, if thou wilt, thou canst make me clean.

13 And he put forth his hand, and touched him, saying, I will: be thou clean. And immediately the leprosy departed from him.

14 And he charged him to tell no man: but go, and shew thyself to the priest, and offer for thy cleansing, according as Moses commanded, for a testimony unto them.

15 But so much the more went there a fame abroad of him: and great multitudes came together to hear, and to be healed by him of their infirmities.

16 And he withdrew himself into the wilderness, and prayed.

17 And it came to pass on a certain day, as he was teaching, that there were Pharisees and doctors of the law sitting by, which were come out of every town of Galilee, and Judaea, and Jerusalem: and the power of the Lord was present to heal them.

18 And, behold, men brought in a bed a man which was taken with a palsy: and they sought means to bring him in, and to lay him before him.

19 And when they could not find by what way they might bring him in because of the multitude, they went upon the housetop, and let him down through the tiling with his couch into the midst before Jesus.

20 And when he saw their faith, he said unto him, Man, thy sins are forgiven thee.

21 And the scribes and the Pharisees began to reason, saying, Who is this which speaketh blasphemies? Who can forgive sins, but God alone?

22 But when Jesus perceived their thoughts, he answering said unto them, What reason ye in your hearts?

23 Whether is easier, to say, Thy sins be forgiven thee; or to say, Rise up and walk?

24 But that ye may know that the Son of man hath power upon earth to forgive sins, (he said unto the sick of the palsy,) I say unto thee, Arise, and take up thy couch, and go into thine house.

25 And immediately he rose up before them, and took up that whereon he lay, and departed to his own house, glorifying God.

26 And they were all amazed, and they glorified God, and were filled with fear, saying, We have seen strange things to day.

27 And after these things he went forth, and saw a publican, named Levi, sitting at the receipt of custom: and he said unto him, Follow me.

28 And he left all, rose up, and followed him.

29 And Levi made him a great feast in his own house: and there was a great company of publicans and of others that sat down with them.

30 But their scribes and Pharisees murmured against his disciples, saying, Why do ye eat and drink with publicans and sinners?

31 And Jesus answering said unto them, They that are whole need not a physician; but they that are sick.

32 I came not to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance.

33 And they said unto him, Why do the disciples of John fast often, and make prayers, and likewise the disciples of the Pharisees; but thine eat and drink?

34 And he said unto them, Can ye make the children of the bridechamber fast, while the bridegroom is with them?

35 But the days will come, when the bridegroom shall be taken away from them, and then shall they fast in those days.

36 And he spake also a parable unto them; No man putteth a piece of a new garment upon an old; if otherwise, then both the new maketh a rent, and the piece that was taken out of the new agreeth not with the old.

37 And no man putteth new wine into old bottles; else the new wine will burst the bottles, and be spilled, and the bottles shall perish.

38 But new wine must be put into new bottles; and both are preserved.

39 No man also having drunk old wine straightway desireth new: for he saith, The old is better.

Now it occurred that while the people pressed upon Jesus to hear the message of God, He was standing by the Lake of Gennesaret (Sea of Galilee).

And He saw two boats drawn up by the lake, but the fishermen had gone down from them and were washing their nets.

And getting into one of the boats, [the one] that belonged to Simon (Peter), He requested him to draw away a little from the shore. Then He sat down and continued to teach the crowd [of people] from the boat.

When He had stopped speaking, He said to Simon (Peter), Put out into the deep [water], and lower your nets for a haul.

And Simon (Peter) answered, Master, we toiled all night [[a]exhaustingly] and caught nothing [in our nets]. But [b]on the ground of Your word, I will lower the nets [again].

And when they had done this, they caught a great number of fish; and as their nets were [[c]at the point of] breaking,

They signaled to their partners in the other boat to come and take hold with them. And they came and filled both the boats, so that they began to sink.

But when Simon Peter saw this, he fell down at Jesus’ knees, saying, Depart from me, for I am a sinful man, O Lord.

For he was gripped with bewildering amazement [allied to terror], and all who were with him, at the haul of fish which they had made;

10 And so also were James and John, the sons of Zebedee, who were partners with Simon (Peter). And Jesus said to Simon, Have no fear; from now on you will be catching men!

11 And after they had run their boats on shore, they left everything and [d] joined Him as His disciples and sided with His party and accompanied Him.

12 While He was in one of the towns, there came a man full of (covered with) leprosy; and when he saw Jesus, he fell on his face and implored Him, saying, Lord, if You are willing, You are able to cure me and make me clean.

13 And [Jesus] reached out His hand and touched him, saying, I am willing; be cleansed! And immediately the leprosy left him.

14 And [Jesus] charged him to tell no one [[e]that he might chance to meet], [f]until [He said] you go and show yourself to the priest, and make an offering for your purification, as Moses commanded, for a testimony and proof to the people, that they may have evidence [of your healing].(A)

15 But so much the more the news spread abroad concerning Him, and great crowds kept coming together to hear [Him] and to be healed by Him of their infirmities.

16 But He Himself withdrew [in retirement] to the wilderness (desert) and prayed.

17 One of those days, as He was teaching, there were Pharisees and teachers of the Law sitting by, who had come from every village and town of Galilee and Judea and from Jerusalem. And the power of the Lord was [present] with Him to heal [g]them.

18 And behold, some men were bringing on a stretcher a man who was paralyzed, and they tried to carry him in and lay him before [Jesus].

19 But finding no way to bring him in because of the crowd, they went up on the roof and lowered him with his stretcher through the tiles into the midst, in front of Jesus.

20 And when He saw [their confidence in Him, springing from] their faith, He said, Man, your sins are forgiven you!

21 And the scribes and the Pharisees began to reason and question and argue, saying, Who is this [Man] Who speaks blasphemies? Who can forgive sins but God alone?

22 But Jesus, knowing their thoughts and questionings, answered them, Why do you question in your hearts?

23 Which is easier: to say, Your sins are forgiven you, or to say, Arise and walk [about]?

24 But that you may know that the Son of Man has the [[h]power of] authority and right on earth to forgive sins, He said to the paralyzed man, I say to you, arise, pick up your litter (stretcher), and go to your own house!

25 And instantly [the man] stood up before them and picked up what he had been lying on and went away to his house, [i]recognizing and praising and thanking God.

26 And overwhelming astonishment and ecstasy seized them all, and they [j]recognized and praised and thanked God; and they were filled with and controlled by reverential fear and kept saying, We have seen wonderful and strange and incredible and unthinkable things today!

27 And after this, Jesus went out and looked [attentively] at a tax collector named Levi sitting at the tax office; and He said to him, [k]Join Me as a disciple and side with My party and accompany Me.

28 And he forsook everything and got up and followed Him [becoming His disciple and siding with His party].

29 And Levi (Matthew) made a great banquet for Him in his own house, and there was a large company of tax collectors and others who were reclining [at the table] with them.

30 Now the Pharisees and their scribes were grumbling against Jesus’ disciples, saying, Why are you eating and drinking with tax collectors and [preeminently] sinful people?

31 And Jesus replied to them, It is not those who are healthy who need a physician, but those who are sick.

32 I have not come to arouse and invite and call the righteous, but [l]the erring ones ([m]those not free from sin) to repentance [[n]to change their minds for the better and heartily to amend their ways, with abhorrence of their past sins].

33 Then they said to Him, The disciples of John practice fasting often and offer up prayers of [special] petition, and so do [the disciples] of the Pharisees also, but Yours eat and drink.

34 And Jesus said to them, Can you make the wedding guests fast as long as the bridegroom is with them?

35 But the days will come when the bridegroom will be taken from them; and then they will fast in those days.

36 He told them a [o]proverb also: No one puts a patch from a new garment on an old garment; if he does, he will both tear the new one, and the patch from the new [one] will not match the old [garment].

37 And no one pours new wine into old wineskins; if he does, the fresh wine will burst the skins and it will be spilled and the skins will be ruined (destroyed).

38 But new wine must be put into fresh wineskins.

39 And no one after drinking old wine immediately desires new wine, for he says, The old is good or [p]better.

Footnotes

  1. Luke 5:5 Marvin Vincent, Word Studies.
  2. Luke 5:5 Marvin Vincent, Word Studies.
  3. Luke 5:6 Richard Trench, Synonyms of the New Testament.
  4. Luke 5:11 Joseph Thayer, A Greek-English Lexicon.
  5. Luke 5:14 Marvin Vincent, Word Studies.
  6. Luke 5:14 Richard Trench, Notes on the Miracles of our Lord.
  7. Luke 5:17 Some ancient manuscripts so read.
  8. Luke 5:24 Joseph Thayer, A Greek-English Lexicon.
  9. Luke 5:25 Hermann Cremer, Biblico-Theological Lexicon.
  10. Luke 5:26 Hermann Cremer, Biblico-Theological Lexicon.
  11. Luke 5:27 Joseph Thayer, A Greek-English Lexicon.
  12. Luke 5:32 Robert Young, Analytical Concordance.
  13. Luke 5:32 Joseph Thayer, A Greek-English Lexicon.
  14. Luke 5:32 Joseph Thayer, A Greek-English Lexicon.
  15. Luke 5:36 G. Abbott-Smith, Manual Greek Lexicon of the New Testament.
  16. Luke 5:39 Many ancient manuscripts read “better.”

One day as he was preaching on the shore of Lake Gennesaret, great crowds pressed in on him to listen to the Word of God. He noticed two empty boats standing at the water’s edge while the fishermen washed their nets. Stepping into one of the boats, Jesus asked Simon, its owner, to push out a little into the water, so that he could sit in the boat and speak to the crowds from there.

When he had finished speaking, he said to Simon, “Now go out where it is deeper and let down your nets and you will catch a lot of fish!”

“Sir,” Simon replied, “we worked hard all last night and didn’t catch a thing. But if you say so, we’ll try again.”

And this time their nets were so full that they began to tear! A shout for help brought their partners in the other boat, and soon both boats were filled with fish and on the verge of sinking.

When Simon Peter realized what had happened, he fell to his knees before Jesus and said, “Oh, sir, please leave us—I’m too much of a sinner for you to have around.” For he was awestruck by the size of their catch, as were the others with him, 10 and his partners too—James and John, the sons of Zebedee. Jesus replied, “Don’t be afraid! From now on you’ll be fishing for the souls of men!”

11 And as soon as they landed, they left everything and went with him.

12 One day in a certain village he was visiting, there was a man with an advanced case of leprosy. When he saw Jesus, he fell to the ground before him, face downward in the dust, begging to be healed.

“Sir,” he said, “if you only will, you can clear me of every trace of my disease.”

13 Jesus reached out and touched the man and said, “Of course I will. Be healed.” And the leprosy left him instantly! 14 Then Jesus instructed him to go at once without telling anyone what had happened and be examined by the Jewish priest. “Offer the sacrifice Moses’ law requires for lepers who are healed,” he said. “This will prove to everyone that you are well.” 15 Now the report of his power spread even faster and vast crowds came to hear him preach and to be healed of their diseases. 16 But he often withdrew to the wilderness for prayer.

17 One day while he was teaching, some Jewish religious leaders[a] and teachers of the Law were sitting nearby. (It seemed that these men showed up from every village in all Galilee and Judea, as well as from Jerusalem.) And the Lord’s healing power was upon him.

18-19 Then—look! Some men came carrying a paralyzed man on a sleeping mat. They tried to push through the crowd to Jesus but couldn’t reach him. So they went up on the roof above him, took off some tiles, and lowered the sick man down into the crowd, still on his sleeping mat, right in front of Jesus.

20 Seeing their faith, Jesus said to the man, “My friend, your sins are forgiven!”

21 “Who does this fellow think he is?” the Pharisees and teachers of the Law exclaimed among themselves. “This is blasphemy! Who but God can forgive sins?”

22 Jesus knew what they were thinking, and he replied, “Why is it blasphemy? 23-24 I, the Messiah,[b] have the authority on earth to forgive sins. But talk is cheap—anybody could say that. So I’ll prove it to you by healing this man.” Then, turning to the paralyzed man, he commanded, “Pick up your stretcher and go on home, for you are healed!”

25 And immediately, as everyone watched, the man jumped to his feet, picked up his mat and went home praising God! 26 Everyone present was gripped with awe and fear. And they praised God, remarking over and over again, “We have seen strange things today.”

27 Later on as Jesus left the town he saw a tax collector—with the usual reputation for cheating—sitting at a tax collection booth. The man’s name was Levi. Jesus said to him, “Come and be one of my disciples!” 28 So Levi left everything, sprang up, and went with him.

29 Soon Levi held a reception in his home with Jesus as the guest of honor. Many of Levi’s fellow tax collectors and other guests were there.

30 But the Pharisees and teachers of the Law complained bitterly to Jesus’ disciples about his eating with such notorious sinners.

31 Jesus answered them, “It is the sick who need a doctor, not those in good health. 32 My purpose is to invite sinners to turn from their sins, not to spend my time with those who think themselves already good enough.”

33 Their next complaint was that Jesus’ disciples were feasting instead of fasting. “John the Baptist’s disciples are constantly going without food and praying,” they declared, “and so do the disciples of the Pharisees. Why are yours wining and dining?”

34 Jesus asked, “Do happy men fast? Do wedding guests go hungry while celebrating with the groom? 35 But the time will come when the bridegroom will be killed;[c] then they won’t want to eat.”

36 Then Jesus used this illustration: “No one tears off a piece of a new garment to make a patch for an old one. Not only will the new garment be ruined, but the old garment will look worse with a new patch on it! 37 And no one puts new wine into old wineskins, for the new wine bursts the old skins, ruining the skins and spilling the wine. 38 New wine must be put into new wineskins. 39 But no one after drinking the old wine seems to want the fresh and the new. ‘The old ways are best,’ they say.”

Footnotes

  1. Luke 5:17 Jewish religious leaders, literally, “Pharisees.”
  2. Luke 5:23 the Messiah, literally, “the Son of Man.”
  3. Luke 5:35 killed, literally, “taken away from them.”